Tuesday 4th April 2023
PHOTOGRAPHER
Find out about GoodGym TaskForce
Report written by Ruth
One in five children in England don't have a book of their own. Bath charity Genesis, which supports vulnerable and homeless people in the city, has made it a mission to change that. It already runs three Foodbanks in the area and now it is planning to add a Bookbank to the mix where families can pick up a book along with their much-needed groceries.
We are not talking secondhand, dog-eared books but new copies - or at least ones in mint condition. The charity wants people to feel they are worth it. And that's where Goodgymmers Ruth and Tanya (wearing her new red GG Tshirt) came in.
Our task? To sort through piles of donated books and set aside any that didn't look perfect. These won't go to waste - some are sold to a market stall while others make money through an App like Ziffitt and the rest go to charity shops.
If you had a favourite book as a child, chances are we flicked through it this evening. Julia Donaldson and Roald Dahl featured a lot as well as Enid Blyton, Tintin, the Worst Witch and a host of classics. One of mine certainly appeared - the wonderful "Flat Stanley". We checked for broken spines, turned-over pages, leftover bookmarks and inscriptions - which, while charming, meant the work ended up in the reject pile.
We had two interesting finds - a signed copy of "The Girl with the Lost Smile" by Miranda Hart, which might make some money on Ebay and multiple copies of a picture book called "Simon Sock" - so many of them that it must be really good.
It was very tempting to stop to have a read but we restrained ourselves and reached "The End" in time, which made Hilary from Genesis very pleased.
Bath
Improve the habitat and park for visitors